Make Africa Your Partner – Indian Business Delegation to African Continent

Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), with the support of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GOI, is organizing India’sservices sector trade delegation (Buyer-Seller Meet) to Africa region, covering Egypt, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and South Africa. The buyer-seller meet will be supported by Indian missions in the respective countries. During this event, Indian services industry exporters can interact and strengthen their relationships with the buyers in these countries.

Background

India and Africa’s have experienced a revival in recent years, and there are strong reasons for optimism that the partnership could be mutually beneficial. With the cumulative investments at $73.9 billion from 1996-2021, India is among the top five investors in Africa region. India’s bilateral trade with Africa has now reached $89.5 billion in 2021-22 compared with $56 billion the previous year. Notably, through the Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme that extends duty free access to 98.2 per cent of India’s total tariff lines, India has opened its market to African countries.

So far 33 LDC African nations have been entitled to get benefits under this scheme. Building on a growing trade and investment portfolio, India now has a strategy with clear guiding principles and areas of focus. The private sector is key to this strategy, particularly in the areas of skill and capacity-building initiatives, education, health care, medical value travel, and IT & ITES. Moreover, underpinning the seriousness of India’s Africa policy shift, the country has made maritime security a key pillar in most of its engagement with countries like Kenya and South Africa. Importantly, experts anticipate that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which is already operational, to boost the levels of trade and investment, development of value chains, and industrialization across the Africa region.

General Guidelines:

1. It is mandatory to participate in all the 4 Buyer Seller Meets in order to avail MAI benefit.
2. The above subsidized participation fee is based on the anticipated grant from the Ministry. In case of any variation the participation fee may be revised.
3. The participation charges mentioned above does not include air-fare, hotel expenditure or any other kind of personal expenses (logistics etc.).
4. The regular participation fee is Rs. 50,000 & Rs. 55,000 per country, per members and non-members, and i.e., Rs. 2,00,000/- for Members, and Rs. 2,20,000 for Non-members, for overall BSM. GST will be charged extra.
5. Charges mentioned for participation in this event are the subsidized rates hence no refund will be initiated by council during or after the event.
6. VENUE: Venue for BSM would be communicated as soon as council finishes negotiations.

Eligibility Criteria under Market Access Initiative (MAI) from Ministry of Commerce, GoI

1. The participation fee is subsidized as the event is approved under the Market Access Initiative (MAI) scheme of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India, for the FY 2022-2023.
2. A maximum of three participations in a particular trade fair/ exhibition would only be eligible for MAI assistance, i.e., members who have availed assistance three times (including past cases) for a particular fair / exhibition thereafter must participate in that fair on their own.
3. MAI funding support shall only be provided to a member for a maximum of three MAI events in a year.
4. In case of exporter belonging to SC/ST/Women and the exporter is having FOB Value of exports less than Rs. 50 crores in a year, 5 participations in a particular event are allowed, provided each one of these is in different market (e.g., Africa, LAC, WANA, ASEAN, etc.).

Who Should Participate:

• Universities
• Colleges
• Higher Education Institutions
• Ed-tech Companies
• Consulting firms
• Any organization seeking to build association in African Continent